For many Shanghainese born and raised in Luwan district like Shen Jialu, the news that the Shanghai Municipal government would merge the district into the neighboring Huangpu district was met with a sense of loss.

"I felt a little sad when I heard the news," the 55-year-old said. "Luwan is my home and I was born and grew up here. But that's not why I will miss it."

Luwan district had been home to much of the former French Concession. Shen's former home on Chongde Road, where he lived for 30 years, sat next to a former French barrack from the late 1920s that housed police from Vietnam. His favorite playground, Huaihai Park, had been a cemetery for French colonists of that era. Then, there were the sites visited by famous Chinese political and cultural figures, such as the late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, Sun Yat-sen, father of modern China, and Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang.

"But few young people know the history now," Shen told the Global Times. "It's not an administrative district that we are losing, but something that can't be reproduced."

Eyes on economics

The municipal government announced on June 8 that the State Council, China's cabinet, had approved its plan to combine the two districts under the name of Huangpu district.

Currently, Huangpu district occupies about 12.5 square kilometers, while Luwan district takes up about 8 square kilometers. The new integrated district will be home to some 900,000 people. Located in the heart of downtown Shanghai, Luwan and Huangpu districts rank the highest among the city's 18 districts in overall economic development and per capita assets, even though they are two of the city's smallest districts by area.

Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng said at a news conference on June 8 that the district merger will help further integrate and optimize the resources of downtown Shanghai, though government has not yet given a specific date when the integration of the districts' two administrations will be completed.

"It is not simply a merger of two administrative districts, but an attempt to build up Shanghai's new Central Business District," said Yu Hongsheng, director of the Urbanization Development Research Center at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

The Luwan-Huangpu merger marks the third time that Shanghai has adjusted its administrative divisions during the past 10 years.

In 2000, Huangpu district absorbed Nanshi district and in 2009 Nanhui district was merged into Pudong New Area. But unlike the previous rounds of consolidation in which "a strong district took over a weaker one," Yu said the change should benefit both districts.

Huangpu and Luwan districts are home to a large number of financial institutions, corporate headquarters and entertainment venues. They also have some of the city's most famous tourist sites and landmarks, such as the Bund, Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road, Xintiandi and Yuyuan Garden. 

One of the potential benefits of the combining the districts would be to integrate their cultural and economic resources under one administration, according to Yu. "For example, much of the famed shopping street Nanjing Road is in Huangpu district, where most of the city's bustling shopping areas are located. And Luwan has Huaihai Road, the most well-known icon for fashion in Shanghai. The merger could help the new district, as well as downtown Shanghai, play a better role in urban planning," Yu told the Global Times.

Meanwhile, because the Huangpu River borders both districts, the merger would help unify the development of much of the city's riverside, and perhaps help develop the sites of 2010 World Expo into something new, Yu said.

Cultural relevance

For someone like Qian Nairong, however, news of the merger has served to remind people about the importance of protecting Shanghai's historic and cultural heritage sites.

"The history of Luwan could be thought as a microcosm for modern Shanghai as it shows the city's development trajectory," said Qian, a Luwan-born professor of liberal arts at Shanghai University. Over the past decade, Qian has devoted himself to studying and protecting Shanghai's folk culture.

Qian said it really doesn't matter whether Luwan's cultural heritage falls under the administration of one district or another. What matters is how much of a priority the government places on culture heritage protection and public education.

"Cultural and historic sites are only meaningful when people remember the history behind them," Qian said. "Otherwise, they just become another commercial facility to entertain people."

Luwan district is significant because of all the districts in the city, it most represents the regional culture known as "Haipai," which refers to a culture that freely mixes Western and Chinese elements, Qian said.

Luwan's development as an urban area coincided with the colonial period. In 1845, British colonists built the first settlement in today's Huangpu district. It was called the Shanghai International Settlement.

Four years later, French colonists set up a second concession in what became Luwan district.

Unlike the British settlement in Huangpu district, which was more commercial oriented, Luwan district was more focused on arts and culture. The best example of that difference is the Western-style bank buildings along the Bund in Huangpu district and the 110-year-old Huaihai Road in Luwan district. "There is an old saying that says visitors who come to Shanghai will go to Nanjing Road to buy branded goods while people who live in Shanghai will go to Huaihai Road for fashionable goods," Qian said.

Over the last century, these two areas gradually developed into Shanghai's most prosperous areas, peaking in the 1920s. The area's civil life was rich and colorful. It was a place where people socialized actively. Today's Huaihai Cinema, formerly called the Paris Cinema, and Shanghai Culture Square, one of the largest dog-racing tracks in East Asia at the time, were the most popular places for locals to go.

However in 1943, the local government, which supported Japan during the World War II, eventually shut down the concessions. "As the time goes on, Shanghai is becoming more and more modern while people are getting less and less interested in how to persevere the city's memory and history, as well as its cultural heritage," Qian said. "Maybe after the merging of two districts, we will have better green areas and public service. But for me and many others, something has disappeared and will never return."

Something lost

There are a few people who are trying to hold onto the memory of Luwan district. Nie Rong, a 33-year-old engineer, posted a thread on a local website that asked interested people to join a walking tour that would visit the most memorable sites in the district. Dozens of people from around the city responded, but in the end only 17 people showed up. On the morning of June 18, the group, which included lawyers, government workers and students, gathered at the entrance of Shaanxi Road South subway station on Huaihai Road Middle, where the tour started. 

"We want to use the simplest and most direct way, walking, to express our feelings about Luwan by experiencing it in person because many places and names, such as those of the district government, will no longer be there," Nie told the Global Times.

The group's route cut through the middle of Luwan district, stopping at Xintiandi, the site of the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Tianzifang and a number of other cultural heritage sites most representative of the district.

"We chatted and shared stories with one and another about Luwan, for many of us, this area means much more than just a name," Wang Xiaodong, a student from Fudan University, told the Global Times.

Boys in an old residential building in Luwan. Photos: Courtesy of Shen Jialu

District government of Luwan. Photo: CFP

A mannequin stands in a window.

Card playing in Huaihai Park.

Getting boiled water. Photo: Courtesy of Qian Dongsheng

Seniors in Luwan put on a fashion cheongsam show.